"As of today at 11 a.m., I am officially the acting dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade," the recent dean of this institution explains to "Vreme". Maja Kovačević. "I was just announced by the Faculty Council."
This set of circumstances on FPN in Belgrade it happened due to the order of the educational commission that the vote for the dean must be repeated at this faculty, which was held at the beginning of 2025. It is important to note that the entire election process is not repeated, but only voted again in the Scientific and Teaching Council. That is why the Faculty Council "preventively" proclaimed Maja Kovačević as acting dean until this procedure is completed.
"If someone's goal was to appoint a desirable acting dean here, they failed," says Kovačević. "The request for a repeat vote is a form of pressure on the faculty, but we will resist that pressure."
The Acting Dean of the FPN also announces that the Council's final vote on the new Dean will take place in the near future. He also says about the outcome: "It's up to the team, but I'm not worried."
A protector of her students
Maja Kovačević was elected dean of FPN in February 2025. These elections were closely watched by the media because they took place in the middle of nowhere student riots in Serbia. The Faculty of Political Sciences is by nature a social institution of great importance, which gathers a core of politically aware young people in the country.
Until then, Kovačević was considered a serious expert on European integration who did not deal with current internal politics in the country. At that time, she was supported as dean and some professors who are suspected of being pro-regime personnel. She herself said in an interview for "Vreme" after the election that the pro-government current probably would not have supported her afterwards, but she explained that "maybe they didn't even listen to her".
"I said from the beginning that one of my goals would be to protect students and I said, very clearly, that I hope there will be no need for that. Whoever wanted to listen, the message was clear," Kovacevic said earlier in a big interview with "Vremen".
Because, shortly after she took over the faculty, she became one of the most active deans who, during the entire process of student protests and blockades, defended even the lives of students - from the state authorities. There was a need for that, as FPN students were attacked, harassed and detained countless times.
It is also interesting that the title of the interview she gave to "Vreme" two months after assuming the position and in the midst of attacks on students, was her quote - "I expect something unpleasant to happen to me".
Attack mode
Because of all these actions, it is suspected that the decision of the educational inspection to repeat the vote for the election of the dean was made as a kind of pressure on this independent institution. The explanation of the Ministry of Education, which sent the order to repeat the vote, is that the Student Parliament of this faculty has not yet been constituted according to the rules in 2024, which is important for the selection of the dean.
FPN appealed against this decision of the Ministry of Education, but the appeals were rejected, and the inspection threatened financial penalties. Maja Kovačević therefore explains that she will repeat the vote, even though the faculty believes that the decision of the line ministry is legally unfounded. This will be proven later by legal means, he adds.
"We don't want to destabilize the faculty or expose it to financial risks," says Kovačević.
Since the elections are not repeated in their entirety, the candidates are the same - Maja Kovačević and Darko Nadić. Nadić is known to the general public for the fact that, as a member of the Committee for Environmental Protection of the University of Belgrade, he distanced himself from the position of that committee, which expressed opposition to the intentions to renew the implementation project Jadar.
